-
Local accommodation for refugees
The need for accommodation for refugees has grown steadily in the wake of the large-scale refugee movements to Europe since 2015. Often, there are regional protests when a new facility is announced. Thus, researchers investigated what influence the geographical proximity of accommodation has on people’s attitudes towards refugees.
To do this, they evaluated geographical data from the study “Living in Germany”, looking at people living within a radius of 20 kilometers of a facility. The result: there is hardly any evidence that nearby accommodation influences attitudes towards refugees. In fact, according to the researchers, people’s attitudes remain fairly stable over a longer period of time. There is much to suggest that negative attitudes are most likely to be driven by a general concern for the individually perceived well-being of society. The presence of accommodation for refugees in the immediate vicinity, on the other hand, is not a decisive factor.Further information
Photo credit
CC-BY-SA 4.0 International Andreas Schwarzkopf @ commons.wikimedia.org
… -
High inequality despite rising wages
Only 10% of households in Germany have 56% of the wealth. This means that Germany performs poorly in terms of inequality in a European comparison. Average household net wealth increased by 39% in real terms between 2011 and 2021. However, gifts and inheritances in particular ensure an unequal distribution of wealth across generations.
Even the positive income trend in past years has not been able to reduce the population’s risk of poverty. In 2022, around 15 percent of households were living below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold (one-person household: €1,200 net household income per month, two-person household with child: €2,160). The findings on poverty in old age are also worrying: in eastern Germany, for example, one in four people aged 60 to 79 is at risk of poverty.Further information
…
-
Health inequality
How do people in Germany rate their general state of health? If you look at data from the study “Living in Germany” from the last 20 years, you come to the following conclusion: people with lower incomes are more likely to report having less good or poor health. Researchers see this as a sign of growing health inequality: socially disadvantaged people have less chance of achieving and maintaining good health. They are also more likely to suffer from illnesses or die prematurely.
Further information
image by Stephen Andrews from Unsplash
… -
More home office than before the pandemic
How far spread is home office in Germany? Researchers investigated this based on study data from “Living in Germany”. Before the covid-19 pandemic, the option of working from home was used much less in Germany than abroad. Home office is now firmly established, albeit not in all sectors and across all socioeconomic factors.
Although working from home is no longer mandatory, almost 23% of employees still work from home once or several times a week. Particularly in the financial sector, in freelance, scientific and technical services, in real estate, in public administration, and in the information and communication sector, there has been a strong increase in working from home. In smaller companies with up to 100 employees, the increase in home office use compared to before the pandemic has been weaker than in larger companies (10 vs. 30 percent).
The higher the qualification and income, the more people work from home. Couples and single people use the option of working from home very frequently, people with children most often. It is striking that people working from home typically report both more weekly working hours and greater satisfaction – in terms of their work, their income, and also their general life situation.
Further information
Rheinische Post: Weniger Beschäftigte arbeiten nach Corona ausschließlich im Homeoffice (in German).
Foto by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash
… -
High-income households emit more CO2
Based on data from the study “Living in Germany,” researchers have calculated the annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita in Germany, specifically for the areas of housing, food, and mobility. Taken together, they amount to 6.5 tons of CO2 equivalents per year, which is more than twice as much as would be climate-friendly according to the Federal Environment Agency (namely one to three tons per person).
It is noticeable that emissions increase with income levels. This is mainly due to the higher mobility of high-income households. Flights are particularly significant: for example, an intra-European flight causes 0.5 tons of CO2 and a transcontinental flight 4.7 tons.
Further information
Frankfurter Rundschau: Reiche verursachen doppelt so viele Emissionen wie arme Haushalte
Image by Artur Voznenko on Unsplash …
-
People work more, but less hours
The average number of working hours has decreased in Germany. At the same time, the volume of work reached a record high in 2023 compared to the values since 1991, according to researchers from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) in Berlin. “The total volume of work has increased primarily because more and more women are employed,” says study author Mattis Beckmannshagen. However, the labor market potential of women is not being fully used. The study shows that, on average, women still perform significantly more care work than men and work fewer hours in a job.
Possible countermeasures could be reforms to income tax brackets and the splitting of spousal benefits, according to the authors of the study.
Further information
DIE ZEIT: In Deutschland wird so viel gearbeitet wie noch nie
Süddeutsche Zeitung: So viel arbeiten die Deutschen wirklich (for subscribers)
… -
The effects of family break-ups
Wenn sie nicht mehr mit beiden Elternteilen zusammenleben, erzielen Kinder sowohl am Ende der Grundschule als auch in der Sekundarstufe I schlechtere Ergebnisse in Mathematik und Lesen. Das zeigen Auswertungen der Studie „Leben in Deutschland“. Der Blick auf den gesamten Lebensverlauf unter Einbeziehung der Fähigkeiten der Kinder vor der Änderung der Familienkonstellation zeigt, dass dabei die ungleiche Verteilung finanzieller Ressourcen eine Rolle spielt. Um die Bildungslücke zu schließen, so die Forschenden, könnte eine stärkere Unterstützung des Familieneinkommens erwogen werden, insbesondere in familiären Übergangsphasen.
Further information
… -
What type of support do refugees need?
Refugees who have come to Germany since 2013 generally have a high need for support services, especially when it comes to healthcare and language acquisition. This is shown by the analysis of data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
However, whether or not such services are used does not depend solely on whether they exist. Rather, there are numerous obstacles: Many refugees lack information about the offers. In addition to language barriers, a lack of knowledge of social norms as well as discrimination and stigmatization can also stand in the way Additionally, the higher the level of education and the more work experience someone has already gained in their home country, the more likely they are to make use of the existing support services.
Support with finding work and education and with asylum issues in particular is often not taken up. In addition, many services are only available to refugees with “positive prospects of staying,” which is why tolerated persons and people in ongoing asylum proceedings rarely receive help. Study author Ellen Heidinger advises: “Language and culturally sensitive services must be expanded to ensure access for all groups of people.”Further information
ZEIT Online: Integration: Asylbewerber und Flüchtlinge wollen mehr Hilfe
… -
Short-term work during the pandemic
What impact did short-time work have on employees during the coronavirus pandemic? One study comes to a clear conclusion: short-time work was an “effective instrument to contain the consequences of the economic slump on the labor market,” according to Clara Schäper, one of the authors of this study. Together with Katharina Wrohlich, she analyzed data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
Between March 2020 and March 2021, an average of 3.6 million employees per month were on short-time work. A representative survey showed that women were sent on short-time work more often than men. Overall, however, inequality on the labor market did not increase. Those who were on short-time work in 2020 were on average no more likely to become unemployed in the following year than employees not affected by short-time work – regardless of whether they were men or women.
People without access to short-time work, especially “mini-jobbers” and the self-employed, were sometimes hit very hard by the economic impact of the pandemic.Further information
Süddeutsche Zeitung: Kurzarbeit schadet der Karriere nicht (for subscribers)
… -
Reducing the risk of infection for all population groups
Researchers have found that people with socio-economic disadvantages are more likely to have contracted the coronavirus. But does this also apply if they work from home? Researcher Markus M. Grabka and colleagues from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) analyzed data from a survey conducted with the Robert Koch Institute. They compared the risk of infection among people in Germany with lower and higher levels of education who work from home. The result: working from home reduces the risk of infection, especially among people with lower levels of education – an important finding for future pandemic prevention, according to the researchers.
Further information
… -
Researching Loneliness
Prior to the pandemic, 14% of people living in Germany felt lonely at least every once in a while. This figure had risen to 42% in 2021. Before Covid, loneliness mainly affected people over the age of 75 years, women, people with a low income and low educational status, people with a migration background, and unemployed people. Today, loneliness is more widespread, affecting more and more young people and couples with children, among others. Social differences, such as income, play less of a role in the experience of loneliness than before.
“Living in Germany” provides the data for a broad initiative of the German government, the “Strategy against Loneliness.” The aim is to increase knowledge about loneliness, thus finding pathways to provide prevention and relief. Loneliness is associated with high health risks: If it persists over a longer period of time, it promotes both mental and physical illnesses. It leads to less life satisfaction and a lower general sense of well-being. People suffering from loneliness are more likely to have depression and sleep problems, alongside an increased risk of coronary heart disease, strokes, or heart attacks.
Further information
Kompetenznetzwerk Einsamkeit: Epidemiologie von Einsamkeit in Deutschland (pdf)
Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend: Wissen zu Einsamkeit vertiefen
National Geographic: Die Vermessung der deutschen Einsamkeit
-
Refugee employment rates are on the rise
The integration of refugees into the labor market is regularly examined using data from “Living in Germany”. A recent study took a closer look at people who came to Germany between 2013 and 2020. The result: by 2020, the proportion of people in employment had risen significantly – to 55% for men and 17% for women.
In addition, the proportion of those working as skilled workers increased, while the proportion of employees in unskilled jobs stagnated on average after three years. Increasingly, refugees are joining their company as skilled workers or switching to employment as skilled workers.
However, there are still major differences between the sexes. Refugee women still perform much more unpaid care work than men, which inhibits their entry into the labor market and their chances of advancement. In addition to childcare and housework, care work also includes repairs and errands. Researchers found that if both partners in a couple with a refugee background are employed, the division of care work is more equitable. The so-called “gender care gap” (i.e., the gap in care work) is smallest when the woman has a higher professional position than the man. It is also smaller if the woman works at least as many hours as her partner. “Employment is the engine of equality,” stresses Prof. Dr. Cornelia Kristen, researcher in the research area of migration and integration at the Socio-economic Panel and professor at the University of Bamberg.
Further information
SPIEGEL Online: Immer mehr Geflüchtete arbeiten
Süddeutsche Zeitung: Viele Unternehmen erkennen oft nicht die Fähigkeiten, die zugewanderte Menschen mitbringen (for subscribers)
Foto by Arlington Research on Unsplash …
-
Upward Trend in Mental Health
Between 2002 and 2020, the data show a general upward trend in mental health in Germany, in line with economic growth. Mental health declined significantly during the financial crisis of 2009 and the first year of COVID. When people fear job loss or economic crisis, their mental health clearly suffers.
Social inequalities also play a major role: women’s mental health was consistently worse than men’s. University graduates had better mental health than people without a university degree, and non-migrants had slightly better mental health than migrants.
„Politicians need to take this more fully into account in their decisions. The costs of poor mental health are enormous and widely underestimated,” says Dr. Daniel Graeber, author of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
Further information
Foto by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 from Unsplash …
-
Improved employment prospects
Refugee women have a much harder time on the German labor market than refugee men – although their chances have improved over the years. This is shown by a new evaluation of the study “Living in Germany,” for which protection seekers who arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2019 were surveyed.
According to the study, the employment of refugee women has increased but remains low compared to men. While five percent of working-age women surveyed reported having a job in 2017, nearly 13 percent did so in 2020. “Women are slowed down by several factors,” says SOEP migration expert Adriana Cardozo, who analyzed the data. For example, they lack education and language skills. And traditional gender roles also played a role.
Encouragingly, however, the number of young women participating in educational programs has more than tripled over the years. The number of women with intermediate and good language skills is also growing steadily.
“Women with refugee experience can make a contribution to compensating for the labor shortage in Germany,” emphasizes Adriana Cardozo. The expansion of integration and language programs is a prerequisite, she said. These should be even better tailored to the needs of women, for example by offering childcare options.
Further information
Handelsblatt: Untersuchung: Fortschritte bei Arbeitsmarkt-Chancen geflüchteter Frauen
… -
Migration and Covid-19
By the end of October 2021, more than four million people in Germany had been infected with Corona. In order to be able to investigate possible differences in infections and vaccinations between people with and without migration experience, the antibody study “Corona Monitoring bundesweit” (RKI-SOEP-2) was conducted. All participants of the survey “Living in Germany” 2021 were invited to participate in the antibody study.
At the time of the survey in October 2021, most of the people in Germany had already come into contact with the spike protein of the Corona virus at least twice through vaccinations and/or infections, i.e. were already immunized. The proportion of those who had already come into contact with the virus at least twice was higher among persons without migration experience than among persons with migration experience (90 versus 82 percent). This difference is due to the higher vaccination rate among persons without migration experience. In addition, persons with migration experience had already contracted Corona twice as often as persons without migration experience (8 versus 4 percent).
In their research report, the two researchers Dr. Manuel Siegert (BAMF-FZ) and Laura Goßner (IAB) show that the difference in the frequency of infection is not due to the migration experience per se, but to the different life circumstances, such as the residential, professional and family situation. For this reason, the researchers recommend that the respective living conditions of the group of people to be protected be taken into account when adopting protective measures and health campaigns.
The RKI-SOEP-2 study was conducted jointly by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), the Research Center of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) and the Institute for Employment Research (IAB).
Further information
-
Unemployment: long-lasting effect on children
Parental unemployment represents a major financial, social, and psychological burden for the entire family. In fact, it is remarkable how long and how strongly children are affected by unemployment. An analysis of study data shows that if, for example, the father of children between the ages of 6 and 9 is unemployed, they are 30 percent less likely to finish school later with a (technical) high school diploma. They are also less likely to graduate from university.
Despite the large time gap between primary school age and the last school-leaving certificate, the children’s educational path is strongly influenced by their parents’ unemployment. “It therefore stands to reason that the intergenerational consequences of unemployment are long-lasting, intensify over the years, and thus persist into adulthood,” says Prof. Dr. Felix Weinhardt from DIW Berlin, “Children must receive more support in order to avoid the long-term effects of parental unemployment.” Currently, however, children’s educational success still depends highly on their parental home.
Further information
Image by Taylor Flowe from Unsplash …
-
The Gender Care Gap
Childcare, housework, and eldercare—all these domestic tasks are still done primarily by women. In Germany, women perform about one and a half times as much unpaid care work as men according to results of a recently published study based on data from “Living in Germany.”
Between the ages of 35 and 39, women take on more than twice as much care work as men—and that, in turn, affects their income. DIW researcher Clara Schäper, who worked on the study, says: “Although the amount of care work begins to level out somewhat around the age of 40, the gender care gap has long-term effects on income inequality.” In fact, women in Germany have 18 percent lower hourly wages than men.
Women spend more time on childcare in particular: Middle-aged women spend around four hours more per day looking after children than men. When it comes to housework, women spend around one hour more than men, but the difference increases with age. The amount of time spent caring for relatives increases with age, but remains significantly lower overall than time spent on housework and childcare.
Further information
Tagesspiegel: Kinderbetreuung, Hausarbeit und Pflege: Sorgearbeit ist weiterhin Frauensache
… -
One year after the start of the war: How are the refugees from Ukraine doing?
How are the Ukrainians who have fled to Germany since the war began? A representative survey conducted as part of “Living in Germany” provides answers. According to the survey, it is mainly younger women and mothers with children and young people who have found protection in Germany. Most refugees have a high level of education: 72% of adults have a tertiary, mostly academic, education. 17 percent are in employment. And a high proportion (nearly 80 percent) plan to take up gainful employment in Germany.
The researchers see these developments as a positive sign. Nevertheless, major challenges remain. For example, they say, mental well-being, especially among children and adolescents, is lower compared to other age peers in Germany. “We need to provide Ukrainian refugees with sufficient psychosocial counseling and care,” says Sabine Zinn, vice director of SOEP. The survey is a joint project of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB), the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) and the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at DIW Berlin.
Further information
DIW Berlin: Wie es den Geflüchteten aus der Ukraine in Deutschland geht
… -
Women in Management
Women still make up just one in seven of all board members in Germany’s large corporations. But the good news is that women are catching up. Today, women are being promoted at least as often as men—if they’re working full-time. And in some companies, women’s chances of promotion are even higher. These findings came from a study by Berlin sociologist Katja Schmidt based on data from Living in Germany.
According to the study, women are being promoted more often than they used to be, while men are being promoted less often. Looking solely at full-time employees, men and women are virtually tied: According to recently released data from 2020, around 7 percent of both men and women hold management positions. “But women are significantly less likely to work full-time than men, which again reduces their overall chances of being promoted to management,” says sociologist Katja Schmidt.
Further information
Frankfurter Allgemeine: Fortschritt für die Frauen (for subscribers)
… -
Refugees from Ukraine feel welcome in Germany
Since February 24, 2022, more than one million people from Ukraine have fled to Germany alone. Many of them are now actively participating in life in this country. This is shown by the first representative survey on the living situation of Ukrainians who have fled to Germany, which was conducted as part of the “Living in Germany” study. According to the survey, 17 percent of the refugees are already employed, half are attending a language course and 60 percent live in their own apartment. The refugee children attend schools and some also daycare centers. While most Ukrainian refugees plan to stay in Germany only temporarily, a quarter would like to live here permanently.
The vast majority of respondents (76 percent) felt “fully” or “mostly” welcome in Germany upon arrival. Their intentions to stay, on the other hand, vary widely: 34 percent want to leave Germany after the war ends, 26 percent want to stay in Germany forever, 13 percent want to stay for several years or less, and 27 percent cannot yet make a statement. “Many refugees are currently still unsure whether they want to live permanently in Germany,” says Prof. Dr. Sabine Zinn, vice director of SOEP, who worked on the study. “However, we assume that the number of those who want to stay will increase if the war continues for a long time.”
The survey is a joint project of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB), the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) and the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at DIW Berlin.
Further information
ZEIT Online: Jeder vierte Ukraine-Flüchtling will dauerhaft in Deutschland bleiben
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Die meisten fühlen sich willkommen
…